‘Billions of dollars in savings’: Argonne unveils giant ‘treadmill’ to test and improve truck efficiency
Road-hogging, diesel-guzzling, pavement-shaking trucks may hardly seem candidates for scientific breakthroughs.
But researchers at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont would disagree. A team at Argonne’s Heavy-Duty Vehicle Dynamometer Test Facility is eager to debut new technology they expect will improve energy efficiency and move goods more economically.
“Anything that you consume is delivered by truck,” Argonne Transportation and Power Systems Division Director Thomas Wallner said during a facility tour Thursday. “And, transportation is probably 10% of gross domestic product, so it’s a huge piece of the U.S. economy and growing, with e-commerce. The importance of delivering goods quickly and efficiently has become even more important.”
Cue Argonne’s heavy-duty chassis dynamometer, which will go live later this spring. It’s essentially a treadmill that allows trucks to undergo simulations of various road and traffic conditions.
The dynamometer is capable of generating a gazillion datapoints that can be used to analyze the performance of current and next-generation big rigs, including autonomous trucks.
In 2023, 20.2 billion tons of freight moved across the U.S., which is equivalent to $18.7 trillion, federal data shows. That’s about $2.26 per mile, Argonne’s Byungho Lee explained.
“$2.26 a mile doesn’t seem much, but if you extend that to the national scale it’s a lot,” said Lee, Advanced Mobility and Grid Integration Technology Department director. “If you could just save just 2 cents per mile — we’re looking at billions of dollars of savings. What we are trying to do is not only assess and improve the efficiency of a single vehicle but … address systematic problems when it comes to freight.”
The goals are sizable but so is the dynamometer. To install the behemoth, workers had to excavate a space for the bottom section measuring 40 feet long, 24 feet wide and 12 feet deep.
It can accommodate tractor-trailers, cement mixers, dump trucks, buses and garbage trucks.
A truck tractor’s front and back axles rest on two giant rollers made of steel that are equipped with 600- and 800-horsepower motors. A huge fan provides cooling, while computers and sensors collect data that’s sent to a control center.
The total investment in the project was almost $10 million.
Scenarios for trucks will include travel on local expressways and busy corridors, at rush hour and nonpeak times, with heavy and light loads, and with or without vehicle-to-vehicle communications.
Examples of experiments could include the difference in fuel economy with a traffic-light alert system, or between compressed natural gas and diesel vehicles, Advanced Mobility Technology Group Leader Kevin Stutenberg said.
“You could also look at the impact of — what if the transmission tuning is changed slightly by the manufacturer. So, you can dig down into improving things by modifying some of the controls,” he said.
Argonne is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy and the trucking industry on the testing center.
In about a month, when the team flips the switch, it will be “awesome,” Lee said.
“This is very unique, one-of-a-kind testing equipment and we are proud of the fact Argonne is the only national lab that has this type of capability. Once it’s commissioned and we conduct our first test, it will be our long dream come true,” he said.
Got a question or comment? Drop an email to mpyke@dailyherald.com.
Gridlock alert
Drivers should expect delays on the Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) at Route 31 near Elgin as workers begin removing outdated barrier walls and equipment. This week, the ramp connecting westbound I-90 to southbound Route 31 will close. A detour will direct traffic to the Randall Road interchange and onto eastbound I-90 to access Route 31. “Tolls will be waived at the Elgin Toll Plaza for traffic following the detour,” officials said.
Construction will continue through summer.